Microsoft announced 10 pairs of the most easily mistaken English words

Wouldn't it be more embarrassing than having someone point out the mistake you often make when writing or typing text in English? That may affect the professional behavior of your career. So please read the following tips carefully before sending a report or email to your boss!

Based on data gathered from millions of users on both Microsoft Word and Outlook, Microsoft recently announced a list of 10 pairs of words most easily mistaken in English . The English spell and grammar assessment tool in English offers some suggestions to help improve your article.

Microsoft announced 10 pairs of the most easily mistaken English words Picture 1

According to linguist Nicole Michel, who is also a project manager at Microsoft, an error-prone document can create an extremely bad impression for readers.

Nicole Michel said: " If you send a CV to a prospective employer, but you have basic grammatical or spelling errors, this shows recklessness and not paying attention to every detail, that you don't really emphasizes on the importance of work ".

In addition, Nicole Michel also said there are many reasons why people misspelled English words. Sometimes, these errors come from careless, unreadable typing but sometimes come from grammatical misconceptions. Let's TipsMake.com review the pair of words that are easy to confuse to improve better writing skills!

1. Lets and Let's

If " lets " is a singular singular verb, " let's " is an acronym for " let us " - meaning to do something together.

For example:

- He lets me eat cake all the time ( He kept letting me eat cake all day ).

- Let's go dancing tonight! ( Go dancing tonight! )

2. Awhile and a while

" Awhile " is an adverb indicating the time that means " in a short period of time ", often used to complement the verb.

For example:

- She played the piano awhile ( She played the piano for a short time ).

Meanwhile, the " a while " is a noun phrase containing the word " a " and the word " while ", meaning " a certain period of time " often accompanied by gender from the front.

For example:

- I'll be coming in a while (I'll be here in a while).

3. Affect and effect

" Affect " is the most used verb in context when talking about something " that affects something ".

For example:

- Her depression started to affect the family life ( Her depression has begun to affect family life ).

Meanwhile, the " effect " is often used as a noun, meaning " the result, the influence of something ".

For example:

- The effects of exercise are evident ( The benefits of practicing exercise are obvious ).

- This drug may have the effect of speeding up your heart rate ( This medicine works to increase your heart rate ).

If used as a verb, " effect " means "to make something happen ".

For example:

- The prime minister to effect reconciliation between the opposing parties. (The Prime Minister hopes to reconcile the two opposition parties ).

Microsoft announced 10 pairs of the most easily mistaken English words Picture 2

4. Each others and each other's

In fact, " each others " is the plural form of " each other " but is not suitable to use this meaning in most cases. Normally, people only use " each other " only.

For example:

- Peter and Mary love each other very much ( Peter and Mary love each other very much).

" Each other's " is again a form of ownership that shows who something belongs to.

For example:

- We tried on each other's dresses ( We try each other's dresses).

5. Years experience and years' experience

" Years experience " is a wrong word but there are many people who use it. Must use " years' experience " (correct number of years of experience - often used in job CV ). This is a short, written form of ownership of " years of experience " or " experience of belonging to years ".

For example:

- He has five years' pilot experience as an pilot ( He has 5 years experience as a pilot ).

6. A and an

" A " is an article indicating unspecified things, preceding the nouns with the first sound pronunciation as consonants.

For example:

- We saw a fox on our way home last night (We saw a fox on the way home yesterday ).

" An " is the article that precedes the first pronounceable noun, but remember it is SOUND, not writing. Because there are actually words that begin with U or H sounds, but the pronunciation is still vowels.

For example:

- We saw an owl in our back garden. ( Here "owl" is pronounced as / aʊl /, so obviously using "an" in front is very easy to understand) .

However, the other two sentences are different:

- It was an honor to be at your wedding. ( "honor" starts with "h" but reads /'ɒn.ə/, "h" is mute, so we still choose the "an" that comes with the front ).

- She teaches at a university in New Jersey. (T in this case, "university" is written with "u" vowel, but pronounced as /ˌjuˌ.nɪˈvɜː.sɜː.ti/, "u" sound is read / ju: / should still be The calculation is consonant, accompanied by the article "a" and not "an" as many people believe .

Microsoft announced 10 pairs of the most easily mistaken English words Picture 3

7. Everyday and every day

" Everyday " is an adjective, meaning " happening regularly, everyday " preceding a noun.

For example:

- I don't like these dresses everyday they sell at that shop ( I do n't like the everyday dresses they sell at the store ).

Meanwhile, " every day " is an adverb for frequency, meaning " daily " but it comes with and modifies verbs, not nouns.

For example:

- I cycle to school every day. ( I ride to school every day ).

8. You and your

" You " is a personal pronoun for the second person and can be used as a subject or object in a sentence.

For example:

- I can't believe you always win the raffle (I can't believe you always win the lottery ).

- I saw you at the last night movie ( I saw you on TV last night ).

" Your " is a form of ownership, meaning " yours " shows that something belongs to you.

For example:

- Can I borrow your car tomorrow to drive to Las Vegas? ( Can I borrow your car tomorrow to drive to Las Vegas? )

9. Advice and advise

" Advice " is a noun that means " advice, instructions ".

For example:

- My father's advice was always very precious to me (My advice is always very valuable to me. )

In addition, it should be noted that " advice " is an uncountable noun, so never use an " advice " or " two advices " to indicate one or two advice. Instead, use " a piece of advice " or " advice " in general.

As for " advise ", there is an almost identical way of writing, just another word " s " is a verb, meaning " hints, warnings, advice ".

For example:

- Your father will advise you if you ask him to. ( If you ask, your father will give you advice ).

10. Its and it's

" Its " is a form of possessive way of pronouns to " it ", meaning " it ".

For example:

- The dog always loses its toys. ( The dog always lost his toy ).

" It's " is the abbreviation of " it is " or " it has" .

For example:

- It's raining again ( It rains again ).

Refer to some more articles:

1. 15 facts only for language learners to understand
2. 7 simple tips to help you learn new languages ​​in just one week
3. Top 10 best websites to find foreign friends learn English and exchange languages

Having fun!